On March 1, 2010 I was lucky enough to get to see Gloria Steinem speak at UNC Charlotte for free and with some other library friends - Melanie and Amrita. I know that she is a huge feminist icon and I was super excited to get to see her and apparently so were a lot of other people - almost 1,000 people showed up and unfortunately that meant we ended up in the overflow section - not in the actual room with her. Also, she had laryngitis so one of UNCC's women's studies professors read her speech for her, but she did answer questions from the audience herself so we did get to hear her speak/whisper. But, I did really enjoy her speech and it is amazing to see someone who has done so much for the women's movement in person. She has helped make huge strides for women all over the world with her work. As most people who know me know I am a feminist, but I am also a Christian and I tell people that I filter things first through the Christian lens and then through the feminist one. I believe that Jesus was the first feminist - He was completely radical for that time with His treatment of women as equals. So, I was not thrilled when during the Q&A time Ms. Steinem responded to a question saying "Monotheism was created so men could be God", which I agree and disagree with. I do think religion has been and is used to justify all kinds of evil things - slavery, keeping women in a lower status, war, etc. But, I believe God is vastly different than how humans play out religion - God created men and women in His image and we are equal in His sight. God is the perfect, loving being who wants nothing but the best for us. So, while I agree for the most part with the feminist ideology I do NOT agree with what Ms. Steinem had to say about that topic when I saw her speak. You can be a feminist and a Christian and I think Jesus was the perfect example of that!
Now, here are a few pictures I took of the screen that night:
The professor reading Ms. Steinem's speech.
Ms. Steinem answering quesitons.
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